BACKGROUND: As more research is conducted in Liberia, there is a need for laboratory reference limits for common chemistry and haematology values based on a healthy population. Reference limits from the United States may not be applicable. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to present laboratory reference ranges from a Liberian population and compare them to United States ranges. METHODS: Serum chemistry and haematology values from 2529 adults and 694 children and adolescents obtained from two studies conducted in Liberia between 2015 to 2017 were used to determine reference limits. After removing outliers, the reference limits defined by the 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles were determined by sex in three age groups (6-11, 12-17, and 18+ years. RESULTS: The median (interquartile range) of adults was 29 (23, 37) years; 44% were female. The median (interquartile range) for children and adolescents was 12 (9, 15) years; 53% were female. Several reference ranges determined using Liberian participants differed from those in the US. For chemistries, a high percentage of both adults and children/adolescents had high serum chloride levels based on United States ranges. For haematology, a high percentage of Liberian participants had haemoglobin and related assays below the lower limit of United States ranges. CONCLUSION: Chemistry and haematology reference intervals determined for a Liberian population of healthy individuals should be considered for establishing eligibility criteria and monitoring of laboratory adverse events for clinical trials as well as for use in clinical settings in Liberia and perhaps for other countries in Western Africa.

Florisbad is a Middle Stone Age locality in the Free State Province, South Africa, well known for an archaic Homo sapiens cranium discovered there in 1932. Whilst substantial work has been accomplished on the materials excavated from this site, there is still more to be learned about the palaeoenvironment from the microvertebrates. In broader terms, the make-up and distribution of the Plio-Pleistocene small animal fauna of the Free State Province is underrepresented relative to other provinces, which negatively impacts our understanding of geographic and temporal ranges of many Plio-Pleistocene taxa. Much of the Florisbad small vertebrate material is fragmentary, with diagnostic elements primarily limited to isolated molars. Analysis of this material found a small but diverse assemblage including springhares, rabbits, rodents and reptiles. The small mammal fauna is dominated by springhares, lagomorphs and otomyine and gerbilline rodents. In agreement with previous research on sediments and large mammal fauna, the small animal fauna described here is consistent with an open, treeless grassland.

OBJETIVO: O sistema gabaérgico tipo A (GABA A) pode estar implicado no transtorno obsessivo-compulsivo devido ao seu grande papel na modulação da ansiedade e da sua função como o principal neurotransmissor inibidor no córtex. Além disso, mecanismos glutamatérgicos/gabaérgicos parecem desempenhar um papel na fisiopatologia do transtorno obsessivo-compulsivo, tornando o gene do receptor GABA A-γ2 (GABRG2) um bom gene candidato para a suscetibilidade genética a este transtorno. MÉTODO: 118 probandos que preencheram os critérios do DSM-IV para transtorno obsessivo-compulsivo primário e seus pais (quando disponíveis) foram recrutados para a participação neste estudo; consentimento informado foi obtido. Um polimorfismo no sítio de restrição da enzima NciI, localizado no íntron 2, foi genotipado e os dados foram analisados utilizando-se o Teste de Desequilíbrio de Transmissão. RESULTADOS: No total, 61 das famílias participantes foram informativas (ou seja, com pelo menos um progenitor heterozigoto). Não foi observado desequilíbrio de transmissão de qualquer um dos dois alelos (χ2 = 0,016, 1 g.l., p = 0,898) aos probandos afetados. CONCLUSÃO/DISCUSSÃO: Apesar de estes resultados não fornecerem suporte para um papel importante para o gene GABA A-γ2 no transtorno obsessivo-compulsivo, novas investigações desse gene em amostras maiores são justificadas.

OBJECTIVE: The γ-aminobutyric acid type A (GABA A) system may be implicated in obsessive-compulsive disorder, based on its major role in modulation of anxiety and its function as the principal inhibitory neurotransmitter system in the cortex. In addition, glutamatergic/GABAergic mechanisms appear to play a role in the pathophysiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder, making the GABA A receptor-γ2 (GABργ2) gene a good candidate for susceptibility in this disorder. METHOD: 118 probands meeting DSM-IV criteria for primary obsessive-compulsive disorder and their available parents were recruited for participation in this study and informed consent was obtained. An NciI restriction site polymorphism in the second intron was genotyped and data was analyzed using the Transmission Disequilibrium Test. RESULTS: In total, 61 of the participating families were informative (i.e., with at least one heterozygous parent). No biases were observed in the transmission of either of the two alleles (χ2 = 0.016, 1 d.f., p = 0.898) to the affected probands in the total sample. CONCLUSION/DISCUSSION: While these results do not provide support for a major role for the GABA A receptor-γ2 in obsessive-compulsive disorder, further investigations of this gene in larger samples are warranted.

The Lower and basal Middle Albian ammonite Subfamily Lyelliceratinae Spath, 1921 is reviewed, and restricted to the genera Tegoceras Hyatt, 1903, Lyelliceras Spath, 1921, and Pseudobrancoceras Kennedy, 2004. An evolutionary origin in Brancoceratinae Spath, 1934 is proposed. The South American taxa from Colombia and Peru referred to Tegoceras, Lyelliceras, Prolyelliceras Spath, 1930b, and its synonym Ralphimlayites Etayo-Serna, 1979, are lyelliceratine homoeomorphs, derived independently from Brancoceratinae. The North African 'Prionotropis' radenaci Pervinquière, 1907 is tentatively referred to Prolyelliceras, while 'Lyelliceras' flandrini Dubourdieu, 1953 is a further lyelliceratine homoeomorph subgenerically or generically distinct from Prolyelliceras. The following are described from KwaZulu: Tegoceras mosense (d'Orbigny, 1841), T. collignoni (Breistroffer, 1953), T. camatteanum (d'Orbigny, 1841), Lyelliceras lyelli (d'Orbigny, 1841), L. pseudolyelli (Parona & Bonarelli, 1897), L. latili sp. nov., and Pseudobrancoceras versicostatum (Michelin, 1838). On the basis of this revision, a sequence of four faunas are recognized, characterized, successively, by the presence of 1: Tegoceras gladiator and Aioloceras, 2: Tegoceras camatteanum;3: Lyelliceras pseudolyelli, and 4: Lyelliceras lyelli, the appearance of the last-named marking the base of the Middle Albian Substage.